Fundraising is Like Building a Guitar
Really…building a fundraising campaign is very similar to building a guitar. Let me explain.
When building a guitar one needs to select the woods one will use for the sound board, the body, the neck and the peg head. In fundraising one needs to plan who they want to reach, when they want to reach them, how they will reach them and why they want to reach them. These are all fundamental considerations which when properly prepared will lead one to a successful fundraising experience.
The craftsmanship in building a guitar has to do with paying attention to the small details that must accompany properly prepared wood for assembly. If one were to take the required time in preparation then the result is a beautiful sounding instrument that will last. In fundraising, to rush into a campaign is a mistake and will likely produce more mistakes. For example, one might miss opportunities to invite certain people to participate in the campaign could be overlooked and the likelihood of leaving money on the table is very high, actually it is extremely high. By that I mean one might have raised more money if one had taken just a little more time and thought through each step and the desired results which one hoped to achieve.
For a guitar to sound properly it needs to be built carefully and setup properly. If the strings are too high it is difficult to play. If the strings are too low they will buzz against the frets. In either case, these results produce a poor quality guitar. In fundraising, if one does not carefully think about the ‘ask’ such as who should make the ‘ask’, when to make the ‘ask’ how to make the ‘ask’ and why to make the ‘ask’ the result will be a small cheque if any cheque at all.
We’ll talk some more about this in greater detail in the blog comments to follow shortly.
And that’s the way I see it!
Monty McKinnon
Masterfinancial.com